2015 Garden thread

a reply to: zazzafrazz

Mine too. One whiff of her blooms and I'm instantly transported away to someplace exotic.

Perfect for relaxing afternoons.

Beautiful!! The grapes and plumeria are gorgeous! Plumeria are one of my favorites too, so heavenly!

Just a quick update, life has been busier than normal.

We have been harvesting and loving our April planted spinach this year and loving the early harvest! Things are starting to bolt now since its been uncharacteristically hot here. It was 90 degrees on Monday. The peas are grabbing ahold of the fence and are now about 8 inches tall. Turnips, carrots, broccoli, celery and green onions are also doing great! My beets aren't really doing much and surprisingly my red potatoes aren't even starting this year. The other potatoes are great though. The Reds have always been a little slower to start up, and I wonder if the heat we are having doesn't affect them. My lettuce never even germinated this year. My seeds may have been shocked at some point, some of them are old.

I was disheartened by the adversities my tomatoes had this year, but I planted them anyway ,all two leaves of them, and they have also just taken off! I was also generously given a half a dozen commercial variety tomatoes, and they are already putting on fruit, I should have cherry tomatoes in about a week or so!! The same person gave us a couple of nice sweet pepper plants too that are also putting on fruit now. I can't bear to ask what they used to start them all. I'm pretty sure they are all miracle grow babies, but they will live in pots and produce happily this year. It's nice to see produce this early in the season!

I'm going to continue to take advantage of the heat we have been getting and baby some of my warm lovers to produce extra this summer. The zucchini and cucumbers are even loving it outside, so no powdery mildew this year!

If anyone knows what to do to coax those red potatoes up, please share! They are usually my best producers. The only real difference this year is that it was a super warm winter again. The outside temps were at times the typical winter temp for my crawl space when it's -20f outside. I wonder if my seed potatoes didn't get a little too warm in their dormancy.

Well, anyway, happy gardening! May you all find some peace among the plants in this crazy world we live in.

a reply to: woodsmom

I've always loved reading your posts on your garden. So many plants and veggies grow there throughout the Summer that would be cooked in the heat here in Texas. If it stays hot you might consider a few tried and true heat lovers such as Okra, Eggplant and Blackeyed Peas. I would try to find starters for the okra and eggplant though. They're slow to germinate.

Keep us posted, love it when you post photos,

STM

a reply to: seentoomuch

Awww! Thanks!

I love my gardens, they are therapeutic for me, so I'm glad you enjoy them too!
We are having a huge party this weekend, so everything is in pretty good shape. I will walk around and get some fresh pictures while I water this morning. I've been trying to soak my lilies and coax them into blooming before Friday, but I don't know if they will cooperate.

I have tried eggplant before, but you are right, this may be a great year for them. I might even be able to find starts still, and I have space left in the greenhouse, hhhmmmm. Thanks for the idea!

a reply to: woodsmom

I look forward to your garden photos!

If I were you I would plant one eggplant outside in full sun, and one in the green house. If your temperatures stay up there I predict the outdoor plant will produce more. But, I admit, I've never used a greenhouse before and I'm not sure of the soil temps there.

STM

a reply to: seentoomuch

Here is one of my hanging planters this year!



I was only able to get a couple of photos to upload, but here they are! I will be back to add the next, I just lost the last post!

And thanks for the eggplant tip! I rely on black pots to simulate warmer soils, so it may work great!



And my peppers! Two sweet peppers and two serranos, with tomatoes in the background!
I will try and be back soon to update with more pics!

a reply to: woodsmom

Very nice photos, very green and lush, easy to rest your eyes on. Here I have to wear Ray Bans to see those colors. The planter is great, I like the way it is pointing down as if watering. Kinda reminds me of the most important thing in the garden which is the gardener's shadow.

Here in Texas the deep greens usually last a month or two before the big heat hits. This year it's been wetter and cooler than usual which is wonderful and has extended production time especially for my tomatoes and peppers. It's been mid 80s instead of mid 90s.

I'm sure your garden get together is going to be great!

STM

Greetings from SE AK!

2 Dwarf Cherry and 2 Siberian tomato plants:





I started seed in the window and with a 4 ft light last October. I kept them small and transplanted to one gallon pots in the middle of January. They went outside to a covered bed the first week of May and they had their first blossoms the end of may.

They were planned as part an indoor hydro salad garden, when the wife put a stop to the indoor salad garden I just kept the tomatoes alive for spring planting.

update for my garden.

my celadine plumeria is in bloom finally after lagging a bit this spring but the wait was worth it.








as a side happy hibiscus




Mr taro. (purple taro plant I found)


waiting on my Maya gold buds to open. shes a celadine variety but with larger pedals and less yellow. very fragrant. sadly my showpiece Kaneohe is going wild with robust leave growth but no flower spikes. she might skip this season.

heliconia big and leafy no flowers yet. they might need another year to mature their root structure before they bloom.

Just got a bee sting working on my Hydrangeas and now I have a Fred Flintstone thumb.

Carry On.

www.dianeseeds.com...

Amaranthus 'Golden Giant'

Golden Giant amaranth is a nutritious grain -- high in protein and gluten-free. It's also an attractive ornamental. The large plumes of golden-brown flowers bloom from mid summer to fall, and the ripening seeds attract flocks of birds.

Amaranth 'Golden Giant' is a heavy producer of delicious, white seeds. This is probably the best amaranth for grain production for home gardeners. Also known as Amaranthus hypochondriacus. 98-110 days to maturity.

1 glorious seed head... April 1st garden planted, I used old pots to mix 50/50 cow manure-fertilized soil with indigenous sandy-soil
with the bottoms cut out. as the plants mature I water the containers till I can pull up the pot so as to keep enriched soil around the plant...

I think I outsmarted myself however... only 1 plant has a huge head, 6 others are 2/3rds the size of the goliath plant
but 50' away in just sandy soil I set a peat pellet with 2 Amaranthus seeds in the poor sandy soil between the grape vines

they are as 6' tall like the seed head plant but have yet to even start growing grain yet

I was overthinking by constricting the root system instead of letting the plants grow large and strong to capture the nutrients even in the poor soil

I find that them green flies are ravenous.... I tried 'Seven' dust once but find it too expensive and generally ineffective

will adjust growing methods next year for sure

I told ya'll I am experimenting


I do have two each 'Moringa ' trees going quite well, and those heritage Kansas melons are tasty, those seeds come from Dianeseeds.com too

there are 2 ea, 3' moringa seedlings flanking the now dying cherry tomato, all under our windmill palm...


sorry for all that ground clutter, but these pics were just for myself in the future not as growth records Per se

I had not yet gotten to refill the birds water supply... the cats also whet their whistle there too

UPDATE:

I am proud to have grown two Moringa seeds into 1 1/2 ft and over 3' tall seedlings in just under 22 weeks...
I should be near 8' by the late fall

s here's the two trees that have thrived so far....Moringa is a 'miracle tree',, leaves for tea,, high dosages of many vitamins when used in salad etc.

I am going to try to keep an outside tree under 15' tall and will put the tree in a protective visquine covered silo for winter and bales of insulating straw around the bottom 4'... the roots are dicey to use... the ground up leaves also purifies water--- truly a preppers, survivalists tree with mild health uses too





I put a foot long ruler on the right side plant, it's the runt cause of kitty-cats

a reply to: St Udio

I like the morninga plant. ive seen them prunned before so that they branch out and stay under 10 feet height. they look handsome when they do.


could you Describe your potting method again for the amaranthus. im trying to picture what you mean by pulling up the pot. I thinking you pull the pot like a sheath up as the plant gets larger to keep a basin for added soil or fertilizer? if so how does stem rot cone into play if at all, and what do you do to protect against it? or am I picturing it wrong?

do you innoculate the soil with any microrhyza or b1 type of products?

I once went to a hydroponics store and bought this fantastic liquid microrhyza innocukant. supposed to be mixed into the water system. but for me I just added it like it was b1 into the water jug and poured it right into the soil. my garden looked Iike Jurassic park it was actually hard to control the rabid growth after the stuff started to do its thing. if you have a hydroponics store near enough to get to I'd recommend seeing if they have any liquid microrhyza. it expensive though like $50 for a litter.

I personally like to add simple cheap liquinox b1 to the water supply everytime I water my patio plants (in Sumner right now so mon,wed,sat.) I also add kelp meal once a week. I find it keeps the micronutrients levels well stocked. and really helps with the vigor. I also add a thin layer of wood ash from the fireplace whenever I add more soil. gives a boundless supply of potassium that won't burn the plants if only using a thin layer and then tilling in gently.

what are your fertilizer recipies?

quick pic i took this morning of my celadine plumeria. shes still in full swing and smells lovely.

my other celadine plumeria I was waiting on finally opened her blooms. she's a cultivar called Maya gold. she's growing next to my Cancun pink. although you cant tell from the picture her flowers are twice the size as her sister the celadine I put in my last post. not as tight a bouquet of flowers as her sister either. but she makes up for it with bigger flowers and I think a superior although similar scent.

Maya gold celadine plumeria:


Cancun pink still getting attention from people on the sidewalk with her blooms. her flowers are the largest at about 4.5" . she has a cinnamon bubble gum scent although not as potent as the celadine.





another attempt at my hibiscus picture from last time.





sumatran blood banana about 7' tall in the corner if my patio.

It's been a beautiful and very busy summer! I'm putting up my pickle relish now. This is the first year that I have grown every veggie for it in my own gardens!! Thanks in part this year to the gifted pepper last spring.

I've been dehydrating more this year than canning because of the heat and I wish I had tried the eggplant like someone suggested. It's still climbing up to about 80 degrees during the day, which is unheard of.

The general harvest has been pretty good this year. I have been slowly thinning and processing smaller amount of produce to let some get larger and I'm very curious to see what the final tally will end up being. I've already got six or seven gallons of broccoli frozen, a gallon and a half of peas, a quart of dehydrated soup veggies, half a gallon of dehydrated turnips and close to a gallon of dried greens for a super greens powder this year. The rosehip powder works so well I thought I would expand into greens and fruit this year too. I also have a quart of fruit dried.

I have canned a dozen jars of fireweed honey and a couple dozen jars of blueberry and cherry syrups and butters. Tonight I should get six to eight jars of pickle relish. There will be a batch of high bush cranberry (viburnum) game sauce for the moose coming home next week. There are also still rosehips and low bush cranberries (lingonberries) to harvest.

The mint and chamomile have been good this year. I have a pint of mint extract brewing and a half pint of raspberry extract next to it. I also made a salve up with fireweed, plantain and wild chamomile (pineapple weed) in my usual base with coconut oil added. I have been drying yarrow and raspberry leaf. We had two beautiful bull caribou move into the neighborhood this summer but they have been sleeping in my raspberries. So even though the fruit has been next to non existent, the leaves make a nice ladies tea.

My apologies for the hit and run, as well as my general neglect here this summer. No matter the temperature outside, it is still coming to a close. Thank you everyone for your beautiful contributions!
Now back to my pickle relish!

a reply to: woodsmom

no apologies necessary woodsmom! youre living the dream! i wish i could grow a vegie garden like you. I'm limited to a patio. if I had the room I'd be growing a vegi garden and IMing you for advice! great post!

a reply to: BASSPLYR

Thanks. I really do live a dream. As a little kid I could have never imagined things would end up the way they have. I'm a lucky lady. I'm especially happy that my boys think nothing of it to walk through the garden and eat whatever they can get their hands on. Lately I have had to chase them off the broccoli flowers and radish pods so they can mature to seed.

Some days though I would trade my endless foot tall horsetail for a good book next to that plumeria. Things don't usually smell much here due to the cool temps, but this summer I had my white lilac bloom for the first time, my peony gave me a second teacup platter sized flower and even my pansies and violas were sweet in the sun.

Here are a few pictures that I've grabbed this summer, including the caribou.







I also ended up with six pints of pickle relish.

a reply to: St Udio

I have been using coffee, plain cooled black coffee, in a spray bottle for bugs in general with great results this year. Cheap, easy and food safe!